PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: MWH awarded hydroelectric contract in China

MWH, a global provider of environmental engineering, construction and strategic consulting services, announced today that it has been selected by Ertan Hydropower Development Company, Ltd. to provide engineering and construction management consulting services for the Jinping I Hydropower project in China.

Located on the Yalong River in the Sichuan Province of southwest China, the Jinping I Hydropower project will consist of a double-curvature, thin arch dam that, when finished, will stand at 305 meters. Among all of the dams completed, under construction or in the design process, Jinping I is considered one of the highest in the world. The project will provide a significant reservoir for flood control and will have a generation capacity of 3600 megawatts. The hydropower produced at Jinping I will ultimately pay for the project’s construction costs, which are estimated at $3.3 billion USD, with MWH’s revenue over the next five years forecasted at more than $5 million.

“EHDC and MWH have worked together since the early 1980s and have developed a strong, mutually beneficial relationship. Having delivered excellent work in the past, we are confident that MWH will continue to help protect the interests of EHDC and the Chinese people in building this historic and strategic hydropower project,” said Chen Yunhua, general manager of EHDC.

In the 1980s MWH provided engineering and construction management consulting services to EHDC on the Ertan Hydropower Station, the first hydroelectric project on the Yalong River and China’s largest hydropower project completed in the 20th century. More recently, MWH provided dam design optimization and geological assessment services to EHDC for the Jinping I Hydroelectric project in November 2002.

“We are delighted to once again team with EHDC on the development of the Yalong River and the historic Jinping I project,” said Alan Krause, president of the Natural Resources, Infrastructure and Industry unit of MWH. “MWH is committed to helping China harness the energy-producing potential of their rivers with hydropower; a mature, reliable and renewable technology.”

In the newly signed contract, MWH will be involved in construction quality control for the concrete construction of the Jinping I dam, and will provide project and executive management training. MWH will also provide a full-time, on-site concrete expert to assist with the planning, execution, quality assurance and quality control of the concrete dam.